ANSWERS TO A TOUGH QUESTION
Sea Grant personnel responding to needs of Katrina and Rita’s victims

Kevin Savoie has seen his share of chaos and destruction. He has seen families torn apart, massive fishing vessels stranded and left lifeless on the highway, and every building wiped out of a community—all by wind and water.

As a Louisiana Sea Grant field agent based in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Savoie has witnessed firsthand the destruction wrought by Hurricane Rita. He is part of the myriad of organizations and individuals helping Louisiana’s coastal communities to move forward, rebuild, and restart lives that at one time seemed completely lost.

“Many communities have no hospital, post office, gas stations and homes,” says Savioe. “The fishing industry has also been hit very hard. Only 30 of about 150 shrimping boats are in the water operating.”

Field agents like Savoie have combed miles of roads and a number of cities, towns, and villages helping in whatever ways they can to get South Louisiana’s local economies thriving again. To many agents and fisherman, it’s the lesser-known, but not minor, tasks that need completion to restart commerce. Agents have spent countless hours helping recover lost fishing vessels, most of which are still not operating, and setting up temporary satellite docks for fisherman to offload their shrimp and fish. Ice plants are inoperable, and fuel barges have been brought in to fuel what is left of the fishing fleet.

In Southwest Louisiana, crawfish, oyster, and rice farms were wiped off the map and it is estimated that at least 20,000 heads of cattle drowned. According to Savoie, fisheries losses from Katrina and Rita are expected to hit $2 billion over the next year.

The Sea Grant program works to address the major marine and coastal challenges facing Louisiana through three major programs: communication, extension, and research.

“The work that the field agents are performing like restoring infrastructure falls under our extension mission,” says Chuck Wilson, Louisiana Sea Grant executive director. “The agents are learning to ‘de facto’ help South Louisiana’s businesses.”

One community that took a big hit from Hurricane Katrina was Empire, Louisiana, a town whose economy is based on the menhaden fishing industry. Bountiful in the Gulf of Mexico, menhaden fish are used in pet food, chicken feed, fish oil, and cosmetics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proclaimed menhaden fish oil safe for human consumption in 1989, giving birth to a new industry in coastal communities. Before Katrina made landfall, Empire employed nearly 2,500 people in the fishing industry. Those jobs were lost.

Despite the fact that most of Louisiana Sea Grant’s field agents and their families were displaced, the agents have still managed to play a key recovery role in these devastated local communities. One step at a time, agents like Savoie are helping to find answers to the daunting question on everyone’s mind: What’s next? –J.T. Lane

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Louisiana Sea Grant

from Storm Issue 2005